Device for feeding vouchers to a printing location in a voucher-printing bookkeeping machine or the like

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for drawing in manually disoriented vouchers of varying dimensions to a bookkeeping machine and automatically positioning them so that they are imprintable at a location always having the same spacing from two edges thereof includes a voucher blocking and adjusting device controllable by the voucher per se and having a plurality of transfer rollers located separate from one another above a printing table, and a plurality of voucher pressure rollers extending transversely to the travel direction of the voucher. A guide ledge is located adjacent the transfer rollers and extends in travel direction of the voucher, the transfer rollers and the pressure rollers cooperating with the guide ledge for feeding the voucher in the travel direction thereof. Also included are a device for blocking backward passing of the voucher at a location thereof above and in registry with the printing location, a sensing member sensing the presence of the voucher at the printing location, and a printing mechanism at that location. A cam-operated control mechanism is driven by a motor connected in an electric circuit having means controllable by the voucher per se for starting and stopping the motor.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Reinhard Kley Ubbedissen, Germany 21Appl. N0. 687,271 [22] Filed Dec. 1, 1967 [45] Patented Nov. 2, 1971[73] Assignee Anker-Werke AG Bielefeld, Germany [32] Priority Dec. 2,1966 [33] Germany [31] A 54251 [54] DEVICE FOR FEEDING VOUCHERS TO APRINTING LOCATION IN A VOUCHER-PRINTING BOOKKEEPING MACHINE OR THE LIKE7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

52 U.S. c1 197 127, 197/ 135 [51] Int. Cl B4lj 13/00 [50] Field ofSearch 197/127, 128,135,136, 135 A, 138, 138.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,274,834 3/1942 Ira 197/1382,887,207 5/1959 Schmidt et a]. 197/128 3,100,037 8/1963 Green et al.197/127 Primary Examiner-Ernest T. Wright, Jr. Attorneys-Curt M. Avery,Arthur E. Wilfond, Herbert L.

Lerner and Daniel J. Tick ABSTRACT: Apparatus for drawing in manuallydisoriented vouchers of varying dimensions to a bookkeeping machine andautomatically positioning them so that they are imprintable at alocation always having the same spacing from two edges thereof includesa voucher blocking and adjusting device controllable by the voucher perse and having a plurality of transfer rollers located separate from oneanother above a printing table, and a plurality of voucher pressurerollers extending transversely to the travel direction of the voucher. Aguide ledge is located adjacent the transfer rollers and extends intravel direction of the voucher, the transfer rollers and the pressurerollers cooperating with the guide ledge for feeding the voucher in thetravel direction thereof. Also included are a device for blockingbackward passing of the voucher at a location thereof above and inregistry with the printing location, a sensing member sensing thepresence of the voucher at the printing location, and a printingmechanism at that location. A cam-operated control mechanism is drivenby a motor connected in an electric circuit having means controllable bythe voucher per se for starting and stopping the motor.

PATENTEDunv 2 I97! SHEET 3 BF 6 In van [or PATENTEDunv 2 I97! SHEET 5 OF6 Fig. 6

lnven/ar:

DEVICE FOR FEEDING VOUCHERS TO A PRINTING LOCATION IN A VOUCHER-PRINTINGBOOKKEEPING MACHINE OR THE LIKE My invention relates to a method anddevice for feeding vouchers to a printing location in a voucher-printingbookkeeping machine or the like.

A prime objective of the invention is always to draw vouchers ofdifferent size accurately to the printing location in the printingmechanism so that particularly for machinereadable characters, theprinting always occurs exactly at the same position at. always the samespacing from one side and from one of either the leading or trailingedge of the voucher. This is necessary for machine-readable charactersso that the printing of the voucher can be recognized without anytrouble during the analysis thereof in a reading apparatus.

Known rnechanisms for transporting the voucher to the printing locationgenerally employ a displaceable printing table upon which the voucherthat is to be imprinted must be manually placed accurately on previouslymarked-ut loca-, tions (German Pat. No. 355,619) or withinabutmenticorners or angles (German Pat. No. 1,036,547). These methodsofinserting or introducing the voucher to the printing location have thedisadvantage that an exact positioning of the voucher must be carriedout manually, requiring special attention and thereby causing a greaterexpenditure of time on the part of the servicing personnel.

Other heretofore known devices for a preselected. specific lineprinting, employ adjustable line keys with a displaceable printing table(German Pat. No. 598,916), wherein thekeys limit the path of theprinting table in the direction of feedof the vouchers that are beingimprinted, or call for a rubber gripper for advancing the vouchers witha nonmovable printing table (German Pat. No. 1,083,582), wherein thepath of the gripper is manually adjusted:

Devices are further known wherein the path of advancement or thetransport path of the vouchers is limited by scalelike lugs that arestamped in the vouchers (German-Pan, No. l,l60,674).

Furthermore generally known are perforated vouchers, having a directionof introduction or advancement resulting necessarily from theperforations, and an advancing distance resulting from sensing holesstampedtherein.

The heretofore known devices have the disadvantagethat either thevouchers are perforated and provided with holes, that are of the samewidth orthere is no assurance of accurate. advancement of the vouchersto the printing location.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a method anddevice for feeding vouchers to a printing location, in avoucher-printing bookkeeping machine or the-like which avoids theaforementioned disadvantages of the heretofore known methods and devicesof this general type.

It is more particularly an object ofmy invention to provide a, methodand. device of the foregoing type which will exactly place a voucher inprinting position at the printing location.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I provide, in; accordancewith my invention, a method of feeding a voucher which comprises thesteps of passing a. voucher initially in a.- given direction toward andbeyond, the printing location ,with.

one of the lateral edges of the voucher extending, abovethe,

printing location, more forwardly than the other lateral edge thereof,reversing the direction of movement of the voucher:

and passing it back toward the printing location with one of the lateraledges of the voucher being guidingly in engagement with a guide membertherefor extending in thegiven direction, stopping the backward passingof the voucher at a location wherein the voucher is above and inregistry with the printing location, sensing the presence of the voucherin the registered location and locking the voucher in printing positionat thelocation, and, after imprinting the voucher, ejecting the voucherfrom the machine.

The device of my invention comprises means for carrying out theforegoing steps of the method and, more particularly, comprises avoucher blocking and adjusting device controllable by the voucher per seand having a plurality of transfer rollers located separate from oneanother above the printing table of the device, a plurality of voucherpressure rollers extending transversely to the travel direction of thevoucher, a guide ledge located adjacent the transfer rollers andextending in the travel direction of the voucher, the transfer rollersand the pressure rollers cooperating with the guide ledge for feedingthe voucher in the travel direction thereof, a motor-driven,cam-operating control mechanism, and electric circuit means controllableby the voucher per se for starting and stopping the motor for thecontrol mechanism whereby the voucher is advanced in the traveldirection thereof toward and beyond the printing location, is reversedin direction and moved backwardly to the printing location, is blockedfrom further movement at the printing location, is sensed and locked in'registry with the printing location, and is ejected from the device.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the inventionare set forth in the appended claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be bestunderstood from the following description of specificembodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device for feeding vouchers in accordancewith the invention, showing a reversing drive for lateralguidance of thevoucher in a reverse direction to the printing location;

FIG! 2 is a lateral elevational view of, the device of FIG. I showingthe drive for reversing the feed direction of the voucher and controlmechanism for feeding and ejecting the voucher;

FIG. 3 is a lateral elevational view of the.device of FIG. I as seenbehind the sidewall of FIG. 2 showing the control mechanism for blockingthe voucher, laterally guiding. the voucher in reverse direction,sensing the voucher and locking the voucher in printing position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the upper left-hand side of FIG. 3 showingthe voucher inlet funnel and the voucher blocking and adjustingmechanism;

FIG. 5 is, a sectional view of a fragment of FIG. 3 including alongitudinal. sectional view of the spring-biased voucher stressingmember;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal view of a friction drive for a transfer rollerin accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram for the device of my invention as connectedto a bookkeeping machine motor.

Referring-now to the drawing and first particularly to FIGS. 1 to 6thereof, there is shown a device for feeding in vouchers which has the,construction of a printing table, including an upper printing tableplate 1 and a lower printing tableiiplate formed of two parts-land 3,the upper plate 1 being located above, spaced from and parallel to thelower plate 2, 3 (FIG. 3).,The spacing between the plates 1 and 2,3 isdefined by a voucher guide ledge 4 extending on one side ofthe spacingin the-direction, of voucher feed representedby the arrow A, a reardivided abutment or stop ledge 5, spacer members 6 and a screw-spacerring. 7. The upper printing. table plate 1 is formed with an elongatedrecess 8 (FIGS. 1 and 3) extending transversely to the voucher feed-indirection A, and above which printing or type wheels 9 are located (FIG.3). The lower printing table plate portion 3 is formed with a recess 10similar to and located beneath the recess 8 and forming an accessopeningfor printing hammers 11 located therebelow.

The forward portion 1a (FIGS? 3 and 4) of the upper printing table plate1 forms with the lower printing table plate portion 2 lying therebelow,a feed-in funnel 12 for manually feeding in vouchers 13. At the end ofthe funnel opening, thereextends a transfer roller 15 in the form of afriction wheel through a v recess 14 formed in the lower plate portion2, the transfer roller I5 being mounted on a drive shaft, 16 carried atone end ofa swinging lever 17. The lever 17 is pivotable about endthereof to the other end of the swinging lever 17, tends to urge thetransfer roller 15 in an upward direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, throughthe recess 14, so that it presses with the frictional surface thereofagainst a voucher pressing roller 20 mounted transversely with respectto the feed-in direction A (FIG. 1). The roller 20 is disposed in atransversely extending recess 21 formed in the upper printing tableplate 1 and located above the transfer roller 15. Two additionaltransfer rollers 15a and 15b extend through respective recesses 14a and14b, and with respective transversely disposed and nonpivotable voucherpressing rollers 20a and 20b extending into respective recesses 21a and21b are located separated from one another in the vicinity of thevoucher guiding ledge 4 above the printing table plates 1 and 2.

Behind or downstream of the recesses 8 and 10 of the printing mechanismin the direction A, two further transfer rollers c are mounted on ashaft 160, which is in turn mounted on an oscillating lever 17c (FIGS. 3and 6), and are operatively engageable through corresponding recesses140 with swingable voucher pressing rollers 20c. The rollers 200 areswingable by linkages which include two pivotable bearing plates 22which are connected to one another by a link-rod 23, and a thrust-rod 24articulatingly connected at one end to one of the bearing plates 22 andat the other end thereof to a hereinafter more fully described controldrive.

Voucher Blocking and Adjusting Device Behind the inlet funnel 12 thereis located a blocking and adjusting device releaseable by the voucher 13proper. The blocking and adjusting device is formed of two levers 25 and26 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) that are independent of one another and that arepivotally mounted on a common shaft 27 attached at the underside of thelower printing table plate 2. The shaft 27 is secured at both ends toangle-shaped holder plate 28. The levers 25 and 26 are formed with abend or angle and the free end 251.: and 260 respectively of theangle-forming portions of the lever 25 and 26 respectively are arcuatein shape and extend through respective recesses 29 and 30 formed in theprinting table plates 1 and 2 into the plane of movement of the voucher13. The lever 25 is of multiarmed E-shaped construction, both ends ofthe crosspiece 25b of the E-shaped structure being mounted on the shaft27. The leg 25a of the lever 25 is located adjacent the voucher guidingledge 4 and extends into the plane of movement of the voucher l3 andfunctions as an operating lever when engaged by the voucher 13. Both ofthe other free legs 250 of the lever 25 are provided at the ends thereofwith a blocking pin 31 which, in the inoperative condition of the lever25, extends through bores 32 formed in the printing table plates 1 and 2into the plane of movement of the voucher l3 and blocks the inlet slotbetween both printing table plates 1 and 2, as shown in FIG. 3.

The free leg 26a of the lever 26 located between the legs 25c (FIG. 1)of E-shaped lever 25, and which is U shaped and has a crosspiece 26b,which is also mounted at both ends thereof on the shaft 27, serves asoperating lever when engaged by the voucher 13 proper. A leg 26c of theU-shaped lever 26 is, as shown in FIG. 1, located between the operatinglever 25a and the leg 250 located in the center of the E-shaped lever25, and is provided at the free end thereof with a blocking pin 33 whichin the normal position thereof extends into the plane of movement of thevoucher 13 through an opening 34 formed in the printing table plates 1and 2. The levers 25 and 26 are pivotable by tension springs 35 and 36with the respective lever ends 250 and 26a thereof counterclockwiseabout the shaft 27 (FIGS. 3 and 4) into the plane of movement of thevoucher 13. The position of the levers 25 and 26 is shown in FIG. 3without the voucher 13 and in FIG. 4 with the inserted and partlydrawn-in voucher 13.

The front printing table plate 2 and the rear printing table plate 3 asconsidered in the direction of movement of the voucher 13 are bentdownward arcuately at the ends 2a and 30 thereof which are locatedopposite and spaced from one another, so that between both lowerprinting table plates 2 and 3 a wide slot opening 63a is formed whichcommunicates with an ejection or discharge channel 63, which ishereinafter described more fully.

Drive Mechanism for Drawing In the Voucher The drive mechanism fordrawing in the voucher 13 is in the form of a friction wheel-reversingdrive which includes an electrical motor 40 having a rotary shaft 40a onwhich there is mounted a toothed pinion 41 (FIG. 2) continually meshingwith an intermediate gear 42.

A lower rocking arm 44 and an upper rocking arm 45 are pivotally mountedon the axis 43 of the intermediate gear 42. Both rocking arms 44 and 45are connected to one another by a tension spring 46, and are connectedby a tension rod 47 which is pivotally secured to the lower rocking arm44 on a pivot pin 48 with a control mechanism 200 described more fullyhereinafter. On each of the rocker arms 44 and 45 there are mountedrespectively drive gears 49 and 50 which continually mesh with theintermediate gear 42. The drive gears 49 and 50 are providedrespectively with friction wheel rims 51 and 52 which act on frictionwheels 53 and 54 associated therewith, which are mounted on shafts 55and 56 that are secured to the frame of the machine. Depending upon theposition of the rocker arms 44 and 45, either the friction wheel 53 isdriven by the driving gear 49 or the friction wheel 54 is driven by thedriving gear 50, whereby the friction wheel drive 51,53 for advancingthe voucher 13 and the friction wheel drive 52, 54 for reversing thedirection of movement of the voucher 13 are respectively effective.Gears S7 and 58 are secured respectively to the friction wheels 53 and54. The gears 57,58 remain continually meshed with intermediate gears 59and 60 which are mounted on the frame of the machine, so that the gears57 and 58 rotate in opposite directions.

The intermediate gear 60 which meshes with the gear 58 simultaneouslymeshes with a gear 61, which is located on the shaft 62 for passing thevoucher 13 into the ejection or discharge channel 63. The gear 58further meshes with two intermediate gears 64 and 65 which are mountedon the frame of the machine. The intermediate gear 64 is connected bymeans of two additional intermediate gears 66 and 67 with a driving gear68 mounted on a shaft 16. The intermediate gear 65 transfers themovement of the gear 58 to a drive gear 680 which is mounted on a shaft16a.

A toothed sheave 69 fixed to the gear 58 transfers the rotary motion ofthe gear 58 by means of a toothed belt or chain 70 to a cooperatingsheave 71 mounted on the frame of the machine and to the gear 72 fixedthereto. The gear 72 is connected through intermediate gears 73 and 74with the shafts 16b and 16c, respectively, for the transfer rollers 15band 15c, respectively. The transfer rollers 150 (FIG. 6) are looselymounted on the shaft 160, which is in turn mounted on an oscillatinglever 17c (FIGS. 3 and 6), and the torque of the shaft 160 istransferred through a friction clutch, formed of a ring 75 mounted onthe shaft 160 and a wave-shaped spring disc 76, frontwards to thetransfer roller 150. An adjusting ring 77 or the like located at the endof the shaft 160 serves as the axial counterbearing for the transferroller 15c.

l-IControl Mechanism The control mechanism 200 is shown in FIGS. 1, 2and 3 and is formed of six different cams 79-84 which are securelymounted on a control shaft 85. The control shaft is connected by a geartransmission with a nonillustrated bookkeeping machine or the like andis driven by the main drive shaft thereof.

The cam 79 controls the sensing of the voucher 13 and acts on a roller119 of a roller lever 120 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 121secured to the frame of the machine and is continually biased by atension spring 122 into engagement with the cam surface of the cam 79.An angular lever 123 which is mounted on a shaft 124 is operativelyconnected with the roller lever 120 by a pin and slot connection 125. Atthe front end of the lever 123 there is pivotally connected a vouchersensing member 126 constructed in the form of a sensing rod which has afree end that extends into a recess 127 passing I tension rod 95, whichis connected to a lever 96, is mounted by means of a pin 94 on the lever93. The lever 96 is mounted on a shaft 97, secured between the sidewalls90 of the voucher feeding device. On the shaft 97, as shown in FIG. 3,there is provided in the ejection or discharge channel 63, a flap 98which serves as a part of the side of the channel 63 and which isswingable with the free end thereof through a slot opening 21 locatedbetween the printing table plates 2 and 3 into the path of movement ofthe bookkeeping voucher 13to a position as shown by the dot-dash lines.

The levers 87 and 93 are biased tightly against the cam surfaces of thecam discs 80 and 81 respectively by tension springs 99 and 100,respectively, which are suspended from a pin 101, fixed to the framewall 90.

Behind the sidewall 90, as shown in FIG. 3, a cam disc 82 forcontrolling the locking of the voucher 13 is mounted on the controlshaft 85. An angular lever 102 has a roller 103 at one end thereof whichfollows the cam surface of the cam disc 82 and is continually biasedinto engagement therewith by .a tension spring 104. The angle lever 102is pivotally mounted on frame-fixed pin 105 and is provided with a pin106 on which a spring 107 is secured. Above the lever .102, a lever 108is located at the sidewall 90 on a shaft 109 which is located betweenboth sidewalls 90. The lever 108 has an entraining pin 110 which abutsthe free leg 10211 of the angular lever 102. The abutment of theentraining pin 110 is effected by the spring 107 which is connected atthe other end thereof in an eye 10812 of the lever 108. At the free endof the lever 108 there is provided an angular rail 108!) which abutsthree spring-biased voucher stressing pins 111 (FIGS. 1,3 and 5).

The spring-biased voucher stressing pins 111 are located in a rowparallel to the recesses 8 and of the printing table plates 1 and 3. Asshown in FIG. 5, each stressing or pressing pin 111 is formed of ahollow cylindrical member 112 which is riveted into a hole formed in thelower printing table plate 3. The hollow member 112 serves for receivinga cylindrical hollow pin 113, which is displaceable within the hollowmember 112 against the biasing action of a spring 114 which abuts at oneend thereof against a collar or external shoulder '112' of the hollowmember 112 and at the other end thereof against a lock washer 118. Thepressure pin 111 is longitudinally displaceable within the hollow pin113 against the biasing force of a spring 115, and is limited in upwardmotion as shown in FIG. 5 and secured by a fixing pin 116 passingthrough a longitudinal hole 113a formed in the hollow pin 113. Thepressure pin 111 is provided with a mushroom-shaped head 111:: having adiameter greater than that of the associated recess 117 formed in theplate 1.

The cam disc 83 serves for controlling the limit of the voucher reversetravel and is operatively engaged by a roller 128 of an-angular lever129 (FIG. 3)). A tension spring 130 fixed at one end to the frame wall90 and at the other end to .the angular lever 129 maintains the roller128 continually in engagement with the cam disc 83. The free leg 129' ofthe reversing angular lever 129 is coupled by a pin and slot con-"nection 131 with one end of an intermediate lever 132 which .ispivotally mounted on a shaft 133 that extends between and is fixed tothe two sidewalls 90. The other end of the lever 132 is articulatinglycoupled with a blocking plate mounted between the sidewalls 90 on ashaft 134 the blocking plate 135 having noses or extensions 135a at theupper edge thereof as viewed in FIG. 3 which pass through recesses 136(FIGS. 1

enough. At the other end of the lever 137, the tension rod 24 forswinging the pressure roller 200 is mounted on a hinge pin 141. Toarrest or. lock the bearing plates 22, they are provided withtriangularnotches 22a and 22b at the circular periphery thereof whereina spring-biased detent latch 142 is engageable, as shown in FIG. 1.

The rearward portion of the printing table plate 1 in the feed directionA of the voucher 13, as shown in FIG. 1, is provided with an earlikeextension 143 beneath which a switch 144 is mounted. The switchi144 isof the two-pole type and is connected in series with themotor-energizing circuit of a bookkeeping machine or the like (notshown) and with the energizing circuitof motor 40 of the voucher feedingdevice of the instantapplication. Forward of the switch 144 in the feedOperation After depressing a key T and S1 (FIG. 7) of a nonillustratedbookkeeping machine or the like adapted to effect the printing of thevoucher 13, the energizing circuit to the electric motor 40 through anelectric cable 202, a delay line S1 and the switch 144 is closed,whereby the motor 40 is actuated. The energizing circuit of the motor ofthe bookkeeping machine or thelike remains broken at the switch 144, andthe control shaft=85 on which the cam discs 79-84 are mounted remainsstationary, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the stationary condition of the main shaft of the bookkeeping machineand therewith of the control shaft 85, the friction wheel 51 mounted onthe rocker arm 44 is in operative engagement with the friction wheel 53,and through the transmission gears 57, 58, 59, 60 and 64-67, the beltdrive 69-71 and the gears 72-74, the drive gears 68-68:: rotate thedrive shafts 16-160 of the transfer rollers 15-150, respectively, in adirection of the arrows V.

The voucher 13 inserted by hand through the inlet opening 12 in aninclined or transverse position relative to the direction of feed Athereof (FIGS. 1 and 4) engages at the lefthand side of its leading edgethe end 26a of the lever 26 which extends through the recess 30 into theplane of movement of the voucher 13.'Consequently, the lever 26, asshown in FIG. 4, is pivoted clockwise about its pivot axis 27, and theblocking pin 33 swings out of the plan-e of movement of the voucher 13below the printing table plate 1. The voucher 13 is simultaneouslyengaged at the right-hand side of its leading edge, as shown in FIG. 1,by the motor-driven transfer roller and the voucher stressing roller andis automatically advanced in the direction A.

Due to the fact that the voucher stressing roller 20 is inclined withrespect to the transfer roller 15, the voucher 13 is slid in thedirection toward the voucher guiding ledge 4. As the voucher 13 advancesfurther in the direction A, it strikes the lower pin 31 of the lever 25,as viewed in FIG. I, and turns about the pin 31 in a counterclockwisedirection until the lateral edge thereof adjacent the voucher guidingledge 4 abuts against the voucher guiding ledge 4. The leading edge ofthe voucher 13 in the direction A, as shown in FIG. 1, accordinglyforces the lever end a downwardly and the lever 25 pivots clockwise, andthe blocking pin 31 consequently moves out of the plane of movement ofthe voucher 13, and the further advance of the voucher 13 in the feedingdirection A is thereby freed by the voucher 13 which is now straightenedout instead of inclined to the direction of travel A. The voucher 13 isthen continually and automatically advanced by the inclined voucherstressing rollers 20, 20a, 20b and 200 through the motordriven transferrollers 15, 15a, 15b, 150 with the lateral edge of the voucher 13sliding along the voucher guiding ledge 4 from the voucher position 13ato the voucher position 13b at the end of the printing table 1, 3.

When inserting an unsuitably small voucher or when a voucher of suitablesize is improperly inserted so that its narrow lateral edge is theleading edge, the voucher will not come into engagement with theactuating lever end 26a, and the blocking pin 33 will remain in thenormal plane of motion of the inserted voucher, thereby preventing thedrawing in or feeding of a voucher which is too small or which is turned90 from its normal insertion position.

Before the voucher 13 abuts the blocking ledge 5 at the end of itsforward path A, as shown in FIG. 1, the leading edge thereof engages theabutment edge 145b of the switch lever 145 and pivots the lever 145 tothe phantom position thereof shown in FIG. 1, thereby depressing thepushbutton 144a of the switch 144, switching on the bookkeeping machinemotor BM and switching off the motor 40 of the voucher feeding device ofthe instant application. Thereby the control shaft 85 is rotated in theclockwise direction of the arrow B, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Before the bookkeeping machine motor BM is switched on by the switch144, the control mechanism is in the hereinafterdescribed functionalcondition. In the stationary position of the control shaft 85, theroller 92 of the lever 93 lies on the rising cam surface of the cam disc81 and the lever 93 is located in its most left-hand stationaryposition, as viewed in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the lever 96 is swung to theleft-hand side of FIG. 2 through the tension rod 95 and the flap 98 ofthe ejection channel 63 which is mounted on the shaft 97 lies againstthe bent end 3a of the lower printing table plate 3, as shown in FIG. 3,so that the plane of movement of the voucher 13 is not blocked.

The cam disc 82 (FIG. 3) is engaged on the circular cam surface thereofby the roller 103 of the lever 102. In the stationary position of thecontrol shaft 85, the lever 108 engageable with the spring-biasedvoucher stressing pins 111 is turned counterclockwise, and the voucherstressing pins 111 remain sunken below the travel plane of the voucherl3. Simultaneously, an extension 1080 of the lever 108 actuates amicroswitch 78 in the energizing circuit of the drive motor 40 to switchon the motor 40.

In the stationary position of the control shaft 85, the roller 128 ofthe angular lever 129 engages the circular portion of the cam surface ofthe cam disc 83 so that the blocking plate 135 is maintained through thelever 132 in its drawn-in position outside the voucher movement planebetween the upper and lower printing table plates 1 and 3, as shown inFIG. 3. Furthermore, the roller 139 lies just in front of the lobe ofthe cam disc 84 in the stationary position of the control shaft 85 andthe forked lever 137 is located in its counterclockwise pivoted endposition thereof. Accordingly, through the tension rod 24 (FIG. 1), thetwo bearing plates 22 are pivoted so that the detent latches 142 engagein the triangular notches 22b, and the voucher stressing rollers 200 arepivoted so that, in the rotary direction V of the drive gear 680 (FIG.2) and the shaft 160, the voucher 13b which is to be ad 'anced (FIG. 1)is passed with its lateral edge located inclined or transverse to theguiding edge 4.

By switching on the bookkeeping machine motor BM through the switch 144and by a delay circuit S2 of known function in the bookkeeping machine,the control shaft is driven in the direction of the arrow B as thebookkeeping operation is being carried out. When the drive motor 40 ofthe voucher feeding device according to the invention is inoperative,the roller 92 (FIG. 2) of lever 93 moves after a short forward run, onthe cam surface of the cam disc 81, backward, and the lever 93 is swungdue to the tension of the spring counterclockwise about the pin 88.Accordingly, the tension rod 95 secured at the pin 94 is drawn towardthe right-hand side, as viewed in FIG. 2, and the lever 96 mounted onthe shaft 97 swings counterclockwise, whereby the flap 98 (FIG. 3)mounted on the shaft 97 and functioning as part of the wall of theejection channel 63 swings counterclockwise and with the free edgethereof comes to rest in the transverse groove 1b (FIG. 3), formed inthe upper printing table plate 1. Thereby, the ejection of the voucher13 in the direction of the'ejection channel 63 is adjusted.

In the same adjustment phase, the roller 128 (FIG. 3) on the angularlever 129 is drawn inwardly by the tension of the spring 130 into thesunken portion of the cam surface of the cam disc 83. Accordingly, theangular lever 129 swings counterclockwise about the pin 105, the movablevoucher blocking member is raised through the recess 136 formed in thelower printing table plate 3 through the intermediate lever 132 mountedon the shaft 133 which swings clockwise, and the blocking member 135blocks the reverse path of movement C of the voucher 130 (FIG. 1)between the upper and lower printing table plates 1 and 3. At the end ofthese adjustments of the voucher ejection flop 98 and the movableblocking member 135, the roller 139 (FIG. 3) on the forked lever 137 israised and the lever 137 swings about its pivot pin 138 in clockwisedirection, so that the push rod 24 is shoved toward the right-hand sideof FIG. 3. Accordingly, the bearing plates 22 coupled by the link-rod 23swing counterclockwise and therewith the inclined voucher stressingrollers 20c which are rotatably mounted on the bearing stand 38, so thatthe inclined position of the voucher stressing rollers 20c lies in thereversed position opposite to the voucher travel direction A. Thereby,by rotating the drive gear 680 on the shaft 16c in the direction R (FIG.2), i.e. counterclockwise for the reverse travel direction of thevoucher 13, the lateral edge of the voucher 13b adjacent the guide ledge4 when transferred in the direction of the dotted arrow C (FIG. I),slidingly abuts the voucher guiding ledge 4.

After the resulting reversal of the lateral voucher guidance, the lever87 is swung clockwise about the bearing pins 88 thereof by the cam disc80 (FIG. 2), and the pushbutton of the switch 91 is depressed in theswitch 91 by the nose 87a of the lever 87, whereby the drive motor 40 ofthe voucher feeding device of the invention is again switched on.Simultaneously, the motion of the lever 87 is transferred through thetension rod 47 to the lower rocker arm 44 and the latter swingsclockwise. Accordingly, the friction wheel rim 51 of the drive gear 49is disengaged from the friction wheel 53, and the upper rocker arm 45also simultaneously swings clockwise due to the tension of the spring46, so that friction wheel rim 52 of the drive gear 50 engages with thefriction wheel 54.

As soon as the friction wheel 54 is in operative engagement with thefriction wheel rim 52, the drive wheels 68, 68a, 68b and 68c rotatecounterclockwise in the direction of the arrow R through the action ofthe gears 57-61 and 64-74 (FIG. 2), so that the voucher 13 (FIG. 1)located at the end of the printing table against the abutment ledge 5 ismoved backwards slidingly along the guide ledge 4 in the direction ofthe dotted arrow C until the leading edge of the voucher 13c in thedirection C, as shown in FIG. 1, comes into abutment with the nose 135aof the movable voucher blocking member 135 and therewith through thepreviously secured abutment of the lateral edge thereof against theguide ledge 4 and is transferred to an always even and trouble-freeprinting position in registry with the printing location above therecesses 8 and 10 between the type or printing wheels 9 and the printinghammers 11. As soon as the voucher 13 is located in registry with theprinting position at -13c, the angular lever 102 is swung Icounterclockwise about-itsaxis: 105 through the cam disc 82 and theroller 103. Through the tension spring 107 andthe entrainer pin 110, thelever l08-follows'the movement of the angular lever 102 and swingsclockwiseabout its axis 109. With this swinging motion,the abutmentextension 1080 is moved away from the switch 78, which causesinterruption of the energizing circuit of the motor 40, whereby thevoucher feeding drive is shut off.

Since the rear transfer rollers 150, as viewed in the direction ,oftravel A, are driven through a friction clutch 75, 76 (FIG. 6),including a wave-shaped spring disc 76, mounted on the 5 shaft 160,which is in-turn mounted on an oscillating lever 17c I (FIGS. 3 and 6),both transfer rollers 150 on the shaft 16c are stopped as soon as thevoucher 13c, located betweenthe transfer rollers c and'the voucherstressing rollers c, is prevented from moving by the movable voucherblocking member 135. Simultaneously withthe swinging of the lever 108,the spring-biased voucher stressing pins 111 are raised by an entrainerplate l08b and they press the voucher 13c lying thereabove lightly intothe recesses 117 (FIG. 5) formed in the upper printing table plate 1,and the voucher 13c is therewith .immovably locked in printing position.lnconnection with the voucher locking action due to the spring-biasedvoucher stressing pins 111 and the shutting off of the motor 40, theroller 119 of the roller lever 120 is moved by the tension of the spring122 into the sunken cam path of the cam disc 79, and

the roller lever 120 mounted on the shaft 121 is swung in a clockwisedirection.

This movement is transferred through the pin and slot connection 125 tothe lever 123, so that the voucher sensor 126 presses through the recess127 against the voucher 130 located thereabove in the printing location.

if no voucher 13 is located above the recess 127 formed inthe'lower'printing table plate3, the voucher sensing rod 126 can passthrough the recess 127a formed in the upper printing table plate 1, i.e.travels over a greater path than the normal path when a voucher 13 ispresent there. This increased lift of the voucher'sensing rod 126 istransferred in a conventional manner to a nonillus'trated blockingdevice from the printing mechanism, so that printingoccurs only when thesensing rod 126 is blocked and its possible vertical movement as seen inFIG. 3 is therewith limited.

While the voucher 13 is located in the printing location there occurs,in a conventional manner, an impact by the printing hammers 11. Afterthe voucher 130 has been imprinted, the voucher sensor 126, thespring-biased voucher stressing pins 111 and the movable voucherblocking member 135 return to their normal rest position through the camdiscs 79, 82 and 83. At the end of this return motion of the controlmembers 111, 126 and 135, the switch 78 is actuated through the abutmentextension 1081? of the lever 108 and the motor is switched on again, sothat a further reverse motion of the voucher 13c takes place in thedirection C. With this reverse motion, the voucher 13 strikes againstthe flap 98 which has been swung into the plane of the voucher travel,and the voucher 13d is gripped by the transfer roller 15d and idlerroller 2011 within the discharge channel 63 and is ejected from thevoucher feeding device of the invention.

During the ejection operation of the voucher 13d the roller 140 comesinto contact with the forked end 137!) ofthe forked lever 137 withfurther rotation of the cam 84, and the forked lever 137 swingscounterclockwise, so that the bearing plates 22 swing clockwise throughthe push rod 24 and are returned discs and 81, and through theaforementioned delay circuit S1 in the bookkeeping machine or the like,the motor 40 is switched off.

By means of this device of my invention it is possible to print vouchersof different size at the same printing location and namely the printinglocation is always exactly fixed in a specific'spacirigparallel to thelower edge and the righthand lateral edge of the voucher 13 through thereverse movement along the guide ledge 4 up to the blocking member 135.

I claim:

' 1. Apparatus for drawing in manually disoriented vouchers of varyingdimensions to'the printing location of a voucherprinting bookkeepingmachine or the like and automatically positioning the vouchers so thatthey are imprintable at a location always having the same spacing fromtwo edges thereof, comprising means for passing a voucher initially in agiven direction toward and beyond the printing location with one ofthe'lateral edges of thevoucher extending, above the printing location,more forwardly than the other lateral edge thereof, said means forpassing. a voucher comprising motor means connected in an energizingcircuit, a voucher blocking and adjusting device controllable by thevoucher per se and having a plurality of transfer rollers locatedseparate from one another above 'a printing table of the device and aplurality of voucher "pressure rollers extending transversely to thetravel direction of the voucher, means for reversing the direction ofmovement of the voucher and passing it back toward the printinglocation, a guide member for the voucher extending in said givendirection and guidingly engageable by one of the lateral edges of thevoucher as the voucher passes back toward the printing location, saidguide member comprising a guide ledge located adjacent the transferrollers and extending in the travel direction of the voucher, saidtransfer rollers and said pressure rollers cooperating with said guideledge for feeding the voucher in the travel direction thereof, means forblocking the backward passing of the voucher at a location wherein thevoucher is above and in registry with the printing location, means forsensing the presence of the voucher in printing position at saidregistered location, means for imprinting the voucher at said registeredlocation, means for ejecting the voucher from the machine, acam-operating control mechanism, including means for locking the voucherin registry with the printing location, motor means for driving saidcontrol mechanism, and electric circuit means controllable by thevoucher per se for starting and stopping the motor means for saidcontrol mechanism whereby the voucher is advanced in the traveldirection thereof toward and beyond the printing location, is reversedin direction and moved backwardly to the printing location, is blockedfrom further movement at the printing location, is sensed and locked inregistry with the printing location and is ejected from the apparatus,said control mechanism including a control shaft carrying a plurality ofcam discs connectable to the main operating shaft of a bookkeepingmachine, said control mechanism further including a cam disc cooperatingwith a roller lever for simultaneously switching over to a reversedirection drive for the voucher and switching over an electrical switchconnected in the energizing circuit of the motor means for passing avoucher, said control mechanism further comprising a friction wheelreversing drive having switchable portions located on a two-part rockerarm means, the two parts of said rocker arm means being elasticallycoupled to one another by a tension spring.

2. Apparatus for drawing in manually disoriented vouchers of varyingdimensions to the printing location of a voucherprinting bookkeepingmachine or the like and automatically positioning the vouchers so thatthey are imprintable at a location always having the same spacing fromtwo edges thereof, comprising means for passing a voucher initially in agiven direction toward and beyond the printing location with one of thelateral edges of the voucher extending, above the printing location,more forwardly than the other lateral edge thereof, said means forpassing a voucher comprising a voucher blocking and adjusting devicecontrollable by the voucher per se and having a plurality of transferrollers located separate from one another above a printing table of thedevice and a plurality of voucher pressure rollers extendingtransversely to the travel direction of the voucher, means for reversingthe direction of movement of the voucher and passing it back toward theprinting location, a guide member for the voucher extending in saidgiven direction and guidingly engageable by one of the lateral edges ofthe voucher as the voucher passes back toward the printing location,said guide member comprising a guide ledge located adjacent the transferrollers and extending in the travel direction of the voucher, saidtransfer rollers and said pressure rollers cooperating with said guideledge for feeding the voucher in the travel direction thereof, means forblocking the backward passing of the voucher at a location wherein thevoucher is above and in registry with the printing location, means forsensing the presence of the voucher in printing position at saidregistered location, means for imprinting the voucher at said registeredlocation, means for ejecting the voucher from the machine, acam-operating control mechanism including means for locking the voucherin registry with the printing location, motor means for driving saidcontrol mechanism, and electric circuit means controllable by thevoucher per se for starting and stopping the motor means for saidcontrol mechanism whereby the voucher is advanced in the traveldirection thereof toward and beyond the printing location, is reversedin direction and moved backwardly to the printing location, is blockedfrom further movement at the printing location, is sensed and locked inregistry with the printing location and is ejected from the apparatus,wherein said printing table comprises an upper printing table plate andtwo lower printing table plates disposed in a common plane, one behindthe other in the initial travel direction of the voucher, said upperplate on the one hand, and said lower plates on the other hand, beingspaced from one another by said guide ledge and by an abutment ledgelocated at the end of the travel path of the voucher in said initialtravel direction, said plates being formed with a plurality of recesses,said plurality of transfer rollers and said plurality of voucherpressure rollers extending through said recesses for engaging thevoucher to pass the same in said travel direction thereof, inlet funnelmeans for inserting the voucher into the device, said voucher blockingand adjusting device being located downstream of said inlet funnel meansand comprising a plurality of multiarmed actuating levers swingable intothe plane of movement of the voucher, the arms of said actuating leversbeing provided with blocking pins for blocking the advancement of thevoucher, wherein said control mechanism includes means for the lateralreverse guidance of the voucher comprising a cam disc having adescending cam path and a roller mounted thereon, said cam disc beingoperatively engageable with a forked lever for forward and reversedswitching thereof, said forked lever, through a push rod and link-rod,being movable to switch a plurality of bearing plates of said voucherpressure rollers for the reverse travel motion of the voucher intoopposite inclined positions relative to the travel direction of thevoucher.

3, Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said bearing plates of saidcontrol mechanism are formed with detent notches, and, includingspring-biased detent latches engageable in said notches.

4. Apparatus for drawing in manually disoriented vouchers of varyingdimensions to the printing location of a voucherprinting bookkeepingmachine or the like and automatically positioning the vouchers so thatthey are imprintable at a location always having the same spacing fromtwo edges thereof, comprising means for passing a voucher initially in agiven direction toward and beyond the printing location with one of thelateral edges of the voucher extending, above the printing location,more forwardly than the other lateral edge thereof, said means forpassing a voucher comprising a voucher blocking and adjusting devicecontrollable by the voucher per se and having a plurality of transferrollers located separate from one another above a printing table of thedevice and a plurality of voucher pressure rollers extendingtransversely to the travel direction of the voucher, means for reversingthe direction of movement of the voucher and passing it back toward theprinting location, a guide member for the voucher extending in saidgiven direction and guidingly engageable by one of the lateral edges ofthe voucher as the voucher passes back toward the printing location,said guide member comprising a guide ledge located adjacent the transferrollers and extending in the travel direction of the voucher, saidtransfer rollers and said pressure rollers cooperating with said guideledge for feeding the voucher in the travel direction thereof, means forblocking the backward passing of the voucher at a location wherein thevoucher is above and in registry with the printing location, means forsensing the presence of the voucher in printing position at saidregistered location, means for imprinting the voucher at said registeredlocation, means for ejecting the voucher from the machine, acam-operating control mechanism including means for locking the voucherin registry with the printing location, motor means for driving saidcontrol mechanism, and electric circuit means controllable by thevoucher per se for starting and stopping the motor means for saidcontrol mechanism whereby the voucher is advanced in the traveldirection thereof toward and beyond the printing location, is reversedin direction and moved backwardly to the printing location, is blockedfrom further movement at the printing location, is sensed and locked inregistry with the printing location and is ejected from the ap paratus,said printing table comprising an upper printing table plate and twolower printing table plates disposed in a common plane, one behind theother in the initial travel direction of the voucher, said upper plateon the one hand, and said lower plates on the other hand, being spacedfrom one another by said guide ledge and by an abutment ledge located atthe end of the travel path of the voucher in said initial traveldirection, said plates being formed with a plurality of recesses, saidplurality of transfer rollers and said plurality of voucher pressurerollers extending through said recesses for engaging the voucher to passthe same in said travel direction thereof, inlet funnel means forinserting the voucher into the device, said voucher blocking andadjusting device being located downstream of said inlet funnel means andcomprising a plurality of multiarmed actuating levers swingable into theplane of movement of the voucher, the arms of said actuating leversbeing provided with blocking pins for blocking the advancement of thevoucher, said voucher ejection means comprising an ejection slot locatedbetween said lower printing table plates, and a flap serving as part ofa wall for guiding the voucher out of the apparatus.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said voucher ejection meansincludes an ejection channel for the voucher, communicating with saidejection slot, said flap forming a wall portion of said ejection channeland being pivotable on a shaft within the said ejection channel, saidshaft on which said flap pivots being operatively connected through alever transmission with a cam disc.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said lower printing tableplate located behind the other printing table plate in the initialtravel direction of the voucher has a curved end, and said upperprinting table plate is formed with a transverse groove on the undersidethereof, the free end of said pivotable flap being blockable by saidcurved end during feeding in of the voucher, and being engageable insaid transverse groove during ejection of the voucher.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein at least one of said transferrollers and one of said voucher pressure rollers are located in saidejection channel, said flap, during travel of the voucher in the reversedirection, serving as means for guiding the voucher between said onetransfer roller and said one voucher pressure roller located in saidejection channel.

1. Apparatus for drawing in manually disoriented vouchers of varyingdimensions to the printing location of a voucher-printing bookkeepingmachine or the like and automatically positioning the vouchers so thatthey are imprintable at a location always having the same spacing fromtwo edges thereof, comprising means for passing a voucher initially in agiven direction toward and beyond the printing location with one of thelateral edges of the voucher extending, above the printing location,more forwardly than the other lateral edge thereof, said means forpassing a voucher comprising motor means connected in an energizingcircuit, a voucher blocking and adjusting device controllable by thevoucher per se and having a plurality of transfer rollers locatedseparate from one another above a printing table of the device and aplurality of voucher pressure rollers extending transversely to thetravel direction of the voucher, means for reversing the direction ofmovement of the voucher and passing it back toward the printinglocation, a guide member for the voucher extending in said givendirection and guidingly engageable by one of the lateral edges of thevoucher as the voucher passes back toward the printing location, saidguide member comprising a guide ledge located adjacent the transferrollers and extending in the travel direction of the voucher, saidtransfer rollers and said pressure rollers cooperating with said guideledge for feeding the voucher in the travel direction thereof, means forblocking the backward passing of the voucher at a location wherein thevoucher is above and in registry with the printing location, means forsensing the presence of the voucher in printing position at saidregistered location, means for imprinting the voucher at said registeredlocation, means for ejecting the voucher from the machine, acam-operating control mechanism, including means for locking the voucherin registry with the printing location, motor means for driving saidcontrol mechanism, and electric circuit means controllable by thevoucher per se for starting and stopping the motor means for saidcontrol mechanism whereby the voucher is advanced in the traveldirection thereof toward and beyond the printing location, is reversedin direction and moved backwardly to the printing location, is blockedfrom further movement at the printing location, is sensed and locked inregistry with the printing location and is ejected from the apparatus,said control mechanism including a control shaft carrying a plurality ofcam discs connectable to the main operating shaft of a bookkeepingmachine, said control mechanism further including a cam disc cooperatingwith a roller lever for simUltaneously switching over to a reversedirection drive for the voucher and switching over an electrical switchconnected in the energizing circuit of the motor means for passing avoucher, said control mechanism further comprising a friction wheelreversing drive having switchable portions located on a two-part rockerarm means, the two parts of said rocker arm means being elasticallycoupled to one another by a tension spring.
 2. Apparatus for drawing inmanually disoriented vouchers of varying dimensions to the printinglocation of a voucher-printing bookkeeping machine or the like andautomatically positioning the vouchers so that they are imprintable at alocation always having the same spacing from two edges thereof,comprising means for passing a voucher initially in a given directiontoward and beyond the printing location with one of the lateral edges ofthe voucher extending, above the printing location, more forwardly thanthe other lateral edge thereof, said means for passing a vouchercomprising a voucher blocking and adjusting device controllable by thevoucher per se and having a plurality of transfer rollers locatedseparate from one another above a printing table of the device and aplurality of voucher pressure rollers extending transversely to thetravel direction of the voucher, means for reversing the direction ofmovement of the voucher and passing it back toward the printinglocation, a guide member for the voucher extending in said givendirection and guidingly engageable by one of the lateral edges of thevoucher as the voucher passes back toward the printing location, saidguide member comprising a guide ledge located adjacent the transferrollers and extending in the travel direction of the voucher, saidtransfer rollers and said pressure rollers cooperating with said guideledge for feeding the voucher in the travel direction thereof, means forblocking the backward passing of the voucher at a location wherein thevoucher is above and in registry with the printing location, means forsensing the presence of the voucher in printing position at saidregistered location, means for imprinting the voucher at said registeredlocation, means for ejecting the voucher from the machine, acam-operating control mechanism including means for locking the voucherin registry with the printing location, motor means for driving saidcontrol mechanism, and electric circuit means controllable by thevoucher per se for starting and stopping the motor means for saidcontrol mechanism whereby the voucher is advanced in the traveldirection thereof toward and beyond the printing location, is reversedin direction and moved backwardly to the printing location, is blockedfrom further movement at the printing location, is sensed and locked inregistry with the printing location and is ejected from the apparatus,wherein said printing table comprises an upper printing table plate andtwo lower printing table plates disposed in a common plane, one behindthe other in the initial travel direction of the voucher, said upperplate on the one hand, and said lower plates on the other hand, beingspaced from one another by said guide ledge and by an abutment ledgelocated at the end of the travel path of the voucher in said initialtravel direction, said plates being formed with a plurality of recesses,said plurality of transfer rollers and said plurality of voucherpressure rollers extending through said recesses for engaging thevoucher to pass the same in said travel direction thereof, inlet funnelmeans for inserting the voucher into the device, said voucher blockingand adjusting device being located downstream of said inlet funnel meansand comprising a plurality of multiarmed actuating levers swingable intothe plane of movement of the voucher, the arms of said actuating leversbeing provided with blocking pins for blocking the advancement of thevoucher, wherein said control mechanism includes means for the lateralreverse guidance of the voucher comprising a cam disC having adescending cam path and a roller mounted thereon, said cam disc beingoperatively engageable with a forked lever for forward and reversedswitching thereof, said forked lever, through a push rod and link-rod,being movable to switch a plurality of bearing plates of said voucherpressure rollers for the reverse travel motion of the voucher intoopposite inclined positions relative to the travel direction of thevoucher.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said bearing platesof said control mechanism are formed with detent notches, and, includingspring-biased detent latches engageable in said notches.
 4. Apparatusfor drawing in manually disoriented vouchers of varying dimensions tothe printing location of a voucher-printing bookkeeping machine or thelike and automatically positioning the vouchers so that they areimprintable at a location always having the same spacing from two edgesthereof, comprising means for passing a voucher initially in a givendirection toward and beyond the printing location with one of thelateral edges of the voucher extending, above the printing location,more forwardly than the other lateral edge thereof, said means forpassing a voucher comprising a voucher blocking and adjusting devicecontrollable by the voucher per se and having a plurality of transferrollers located separate from one another above a printing table of thedevice and a plurality of voucher pressure rollers extendingtransversely to the travel direction of the voucher, means for reversingthe direction of movement of the voucher and passing it back toward theprinting location, a guide member for the voucher extending in saidgiven direction and guidingly engageable by one of the lateral edges ofthe voucher as the voucher passes back toward the printing location,said guide member comprising a guide ledge located adjacent the transferrollers and extending in the travel direction of the voucher, saidtransfer rollers and said pressure rollers cooperating with said guideledge for feeding the voucher in the travel direction thereof, means forblocking the backward passing of the voucher at a location wherein thevoucher is above and in registry with the printing location, means forsensing the presence of the voucher in printing position at saidregistered location, means for imprinting the voucher at said registeredlocation, means for ejecting the voucher from the machine, acam-operating control mechanism including means for locking the voucherin registry with the printing location, motor means for driving saidcontrol mechanism, and electric circuit means controllable by thevoucher per se for starting and stopping the motor means for saidcontrol mechanism whereby the voucher is advanced in the traveldirection thereof toward and beyond the printing location, is reversedin direction and moved backwardly to the printing location, is blockedfrom further movement at the printing location, is sensed and locked inregistry with the printing location and is ejected from the apparatus,said printing table comprising an upper printing table plate and twolower printing table plates disposed in a common plane, one behind theother in the initial travel direction of the voucher, said upper plateon the one hand, and said lower plates on the other hand, being spacedfrom one another by said guide ledge and by an abutment ledge located atthe end of the travel path of the voucher in said initial traveldirection, said plates being formed with a plurality of recesses, saidplurality of transfer rollers and said plurality of voucher pressurerollers extending through said recesses for engaging the voucher to passthe same in said travel direction thereof, inlet funnel means forinserting the voucher into the device, said voucher blocking andadjusting device being located downstream of said inlet funnel means andcomprising a plurality of multiarmed actuating levers swingable into theplane of movement of the voucher, the arms of said actuating leversbeiNg provided with blocking pins for blocking the advancement of thevoucher, said voucher ejection means comprising an ejection slot locatedbetween said lower printing table plates, and a flap serving as part ofa wall for guiding the voucher out of the apparatus.
 5. Apparatusaccording to claim 4 wherein said voucher ejection means includes anejection channel for the voucher, communicating with said ejection slot,said flap forming a wall portion of said ejection channel and beingpivotable on a shaft within the said ejection channel, said shaft onwhich said flap pivots being operatively connected through a levertransmission with a cam disc.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 whereinsaid lower printing table plate located behind the other printing tableplate in the initial travel direction of the voucher has a curved end,and said upper printing table plate is formed with a transverse grooveon the underside thereof, the free end of said pivotable flap beingblockable by said curved end during feeding in of the voucher, and beingengageable in said transverse groove during ejection of the voucher. 7.Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein at least one of said transferrollers and one of said voucher pressure rollers are located in saidejection channel, said flap, during travel of the voucher in the reversedirection, serving as means for guiding the voucher between said onetransfer roller and said one voucher pressure roller located in saidejection channel.